CORVALLIS, Ore. – DiJonai Carrington stole Oregon State's inbounds pass with seven seconds remaining and helped dribble out the clock to preserve No. 24 Stanford's 60-57 victory over the 16th-ranked Beavers Friday night in Gill Coliseum.
Carrington's steal was a fitting ending to the game, as Stanford's tried and true scouting report defense carried the Cardinal. Stanford (15-8, 9-2 Pac-12) held Oregon State, which entered Friday's game first in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage and tied for first in the conference in field goal percentage, to just 6-of-22 shooting (27 percent) from beyond the arc and 40 percent from the floor overall. The Cardinal was also able to limit the Beavers' top two scorers – Marie Gülich and Kat Tudor – to a combined seven points on 3-of-11 shooting. It was the first time all season Gülich was held to single-digits scoring.
Brittany McPhee led the Cardinal with 18 points and 12 rebounds, posting her second career double-double. Kiana Williams continued her solid play in the backcourt, going for 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and consistently knocking down mid-range pull-up jumpers with the help of on-ball screens mainly set by Kaylee Johnson.
Alanna Smith was the third and final Cardinal in double figures, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds, and none were bigger than the last of her two offensive rebounds. With Marta Sniezek at the line and Stanford leading Oregon State 59-57 with 14 seconds remaining, Smith snatched the second missed free throw and was able to kick it out to the perimeter and help burn a few more seconds off the clock before the Beavers fouled McPhee with nine seconds left. McPhee split a pair at the line to set up Carrington's game-sealing steal after an Oregon State timeout to advance the ball past midcourt.
The Cardinal raced out to an 11-0 lead to start the game, holding the Beavers scoreless for more than four and a half minutes before Oregon State countered with its own 8-0 run. Stanford was able to push the lead back out to 15-8 before ending the quarter with an Alanna Smith baby hook buzzer-beater to give the Cardinal a 21-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
After shooting 9-of-15 from the floor in the first frame, Stanford was limited to just seven points on 3-of-16 from the field in the second quarter. Oregon State was able to tie the game for the first time at 23-23 after a Taylor Kalmer 3-pointer before the Cardinal took a 28-27 lead into halftime.
Oregon State started the third quarter off on a 7-0 run to take a 34-28 lead with 8:16 remaining, forcing a Tara VanDerveer timeout. The Cardinal responded well out of the timeout huddle, ripping off a 17-2 run buoyed by six points apiece from McPhee and Williams and five from Carrington, who scored all nine of her points in the second half. Oregon State's Madison Washington was able to roll in a mid-range jumper to end the third quarter to cut Stanford's lead to 47-40 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Stanford was able to keep the Beavers mostly at bay in the fourth quarter until the final minutes, when Katie McWilliams hit the last of her four 3-points to make it a 57-54 Stanford advantage with 2:28 left. McPhee answered back nearly a minute later with a layup off an offensive rebound when two Oregon State players collided into each other, allowing Stanford to take a 59-54 lead before the Beavers responded with three free throws to set up the final seconds.
Oregon State was led by McWilliams, who scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-9 3-point shooting, while Mikayla
Pivec added 15 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
At least a split in hand, Stanford will look to get greedy on the road with a noon PT tip at No. 6 and first-place Oregon on Sunday afternoon.
